


rotten heart, pretty face

by WelcomeToTheBadlands



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Dark Academia, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Expect my usual crackhead energy in this fic, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Greek Mythology References, I really don't know what I'm doing here, Murder, Murder Mystery, Pretentious Behavior, Rey Needs A Hug, Rey is a mess, Soft Ben Solo, Stereotypical Dumbass Behavior
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24093652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WelcomeToTheBadlands/pseuds/WelcomeToTheBadlands
Summary: There has been a series of murders at Chandrila University. But it's fine. Really. It's fine.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 10
Kudos: 19





	rotten heart, pretty face

**Author's Note:**

> I would really like feedback on this. Thanks!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fatal Flaw. 
> 
> Hamartia. 
> 
> It’s an inherent shortcoming or defect of a hero in a tragedy. 
> 
> But did it exist outside of literature? 
> 
> Rey Johnson sat in on a lecture of Djin Djarren’s when she had first heard this question proposed. It had stuck with her for the rest of the day...

_The ice in the river was melting by the time that Mitaka had been found. He’d been dead for about a week or so before the search party had found him. Ben remembered that day well. He remembered the way that Rey Johnson had ran into his room crying, telling him that she had just talked to Mitaka’s parents._

_Ben couldn’t make out what she was saying for a second. When he did, he wished that he hadn’t._

__

Fatal Flaw. 

Hamartia. 

It’s an inherent shortcoming or defect of a hero in a tragedy. 

But did it exist outside of literature? 

Rey Johnson sat in on a lecture of Djin Djarren’s when she had first heard this question proposed. It had stuck with her for the rest of the day. 

She wasn’t sure why it stuck in her head so much, maybe it was the way that he had asked it more than anything because she had definitely heard people ask that question before. Nonetheless, she couldn’t stop thinking about it as she walked back to her dorm room. Rey was still getting settled into her dorm at Chandrila. 

Most students were already getting used to having roommates and adjusting to college life, but she just wasn’t there yet. Rey had to move in late because her full-ride scholarship had just been approved and the school had notified her of that a week late into the school year. She remembered the councilor that she was talking to on the phone apologizing profusely, offering her services to help her catch up. “Do they cost money?” 

“Typically tutors do need a way of getting paid, yes. But in your case, we can offer you a discounted—”

“I think I’ll fair well on my own, thanks.” 

Luckily, Rey was the type of person to have a firm grasp on her own limits, so whilst catching up with her full schedule of classes wasn’t that much of a problem, she was still getting used to the whole _socializing_ thing. Her roommate, Kaydel Co Connix, was the type of extrovert that extreme introverts had nightmares about. And Rey, who had never been around that type of person, was still having trouble getting used to how cheery she was at all hours of the day. She told herself that it could be worse because Kaydel seemed to respect Rey’s studying hours and kept her side of the room clean. She also bought Rey a muffin once when Rey had revealed that she hadn’t eaten yet. Which Rey had thanked her for at least twelve times in one hour. 

  
  


One time Kaydel said, “You know, I can’t figure you out.” 

“What?” 

“I’m usually really good at reading people, at figuring out what they’re like but I can’t figure you out. Maybe it’s because you talk so little.” 

“Ha,” Rey said, “maybe.” 

“I can’t even tell if you like me or just tolerate my presence,” The blonde woman told her. 

“I like you,” Rey said, “I’m just—not really used to being around nice people. Or talkative people,” Kaydel nodded, like this made sense to her. And then she smiled. 

“So— it sounds to me like you’re not used to having friends.” 

“Right,” 

“I could be your friend, you know.” 

“You could,” Rey chuckled lightly. 

“I think we’d make good friends, plus it’d be awkward if we lived in the same dorm room and didn’t like each other. Wouldn’t it?” 

“Yeah,” Rey said, “I suppose that you make a good argument there.” 

She smirked and Kaydel grinned, “So we’re friends?” Rey nodded. “Well— as your friend I have to actually know things about you.” 

“Is this just your way of trying to figure me out?” Rey asked her. 

“Possibly,” Kaydel shrugged, “but I hardly know anything about you. So come on, at least tell me what you’re studying.” 

Rey scrunched her nose for a second, “I’m an English major.” She said. “I was considering studying the Classics but I found that most of the kids that study the Classics are a little bit too pretentious for my taste,” 

Kaydel laughed, “You’d be right, there. Oh my god, have you met Armitage Hux? He’s in the classics program and he’s one of the most elitist pieces of shit that I have ever met. He says that Machiavellianism is the only philosophy that gets you anywhere in life.” 

“Sounds like an interesting dude,” 

“Yeah, I guess you can say that.” 

Rey bit her lip, trying to come up with more conversation, “What do you study?” Is the best that she could come up with. 

“This is going to sound stupid, but I study fashion,” Kaydel said. 

“That’s not stupid,” Rey told her, “fashion’s a very important part of life.” Kaydel raised an eyebrow and Rey doubled down. “I’m serious, you can tell a lot about a person from the clothes that they’re wearing.” She gestured down to the sweater and shorts that she was wearing. “For example, I’m poor. These were in the bargain bin at the campus gift shop.” 

“Well thank you for making feel good about what I study,” Kaydel said, “usually people just assume that I’m not a very smart person when I tell them what I’m studying. Also— as a similarly broke college student, I can tell you that I rifled through many a thrift store to find my outfit. So trust me, no judging here.” 

“Good,” Rey said, “still I’ll remember to come to you any time that I need to look good.” 

“Good,” Kaydel clapped her hands together, “I love makeovers.” 

After they started talking, everything was pretty much smooth sailing from there. That awkward silence that had been there between them and most certainly had been caused by Rey was gone now. She was grateful for that. 

__

Ben Solo remembered everything about the day that he met Rey Johnson. Rey was the type of person that was hard to forget, and so she stuck in his mind pretty easily. Ben met Rey at a party that neither of them wanted to be at. It was one of the first to be thrown at Chandrila during the fall semester. Ben had been dragged there with his roommate, Poe. And was currently nursing a water bottle by his side because he wasn’t too keen on drinking the cheap beer that kids seemed to be handing out to each other. He was planning to just go ahead and leave early when he saw her. 

She was also in a corner, trying to hide away from the rest of her party. It was pretty clear that she was more entranced in the book that she was reading instead of the party going on around her, and something about that made Ben want to talk to her more. But the other, more sensible part of him told him that it was best not to interrupt her. He watched more of the party for a bit before she put her book bag in her bag and sat in her chair in the corner, alone. 

He saw her take in a deep breath that he could only assume was a sigh, and that was when he decided to approach her. Rey Johnson was the type of girl who was intimidating to approach. There wasn’t anything about her physical appearance that made Ben think, _wow, this girl could beat the shit out of me._ But there was this look in her eyes that just told him that if he pissed her off, he would spend the rest of his life regretting it. She was entirely too beautiful, her hair in a braid with a few strands coming down nicely to frame her face. The closer he got the more he could see the freckles on her tanned skin, and he thought that maybe he shouldn’t do this. Maybe he shouldn’t talk to her, because she was out of his league. But Rey had noticed him, and she smiled in his direction so Ben supposed that it would weird to just walk away now. He came over. Rey was the first one to introduce herself. 

“Hey,” She said. 

“Hey,” He said. He remembered just how much of a bad idea this was because he wasn’t great at talking to people. He never had been, but she bit her lip and smiled. There was this mischievous twinkle in her eye, and it made Ben nervous. But he realized that twinkle was there all the time. 

“I’m Rey,” 

“Ben,” Ben told her. 

“So, Ben.” Rey said, “I saw you looking at me over there.” She gestured to where Ben had been before. 

“Oh, I—” 

“I was wondering why you didn’t come over here earlier,” This was the best possible outcome that Ben could have hoped for. 

“I guess I was just working up the courage to approach you,” He said, “I’m not really great at conversating with people.” 

“Neither am I,” Rey said, “I just came here because I wanted to make sure that my friend got back to her dorm room okay.” 

“That’s nice of you,” 

There was an awkward pause before Rey said, “You should keep me company while I wait for her to be done though.” 

“Was your book not engaging enough?” 

“No,” Rey grimaced and Ben couldn’t stop thinking about how good she looked. “Unfortunately I’ve already read it five times so it lost its spark for me.” 

“I know what you’re talking about,” Ben said, “I have a tendency of reading books over and over again until I can’t read them anymore. Like beating a dead horse kind of.” 

“That’s relatable,” Rey said. The conversation stalled for a moment as someone attempted to do a keg stand and failed miserably. But after that, the ice seemed to thaw as Rey turned back to him and they talked. Ben wasn’t sure how long they had been there, but it was like the rest of the party just melted away when he was talking to her. It was like they talked about everything and nothing at the same time because Rey learned a lot about him but he couldn’t really get much about her out of her. 

He knew that she was an English major and he knew that she was here on a scholarship but that was about it. At the end of the night, when her roommate was ready and just a little less drunk than the rest of the people there, Rey smiled and said, “Well I guess that I have to be going.” 

“Right, right.” He really wished that she didn’t have to go yet, but the blonde girl that was using her for support looked like she really wanted to lay down so he wasn’t going to stop her. 

“So uh—” She gave him her phone, “can you put your phone number in there?” 

Ben’s eyes widened for a second but he nodded and took the phone from her, entering his number in before saving it and giving it back to her. “Thank you,” She smiled at him and glanced at her roommate. “I’ll talk to you later, Ben.” 

“Talk to you later, get back safe.” 

“Thank you,” She said, “we will.” 

Ben watched her leave, not aware of just how much trouble she would get him into in the future.


End file.
